Fractional calculus and time-fractional differential equations: revisit and construction of a theory

Abstract: For fractional derivatives and time-fractional differential equations, we construct a framework on the basis of the operator theory in fractional Sobolev spaces. Our framework provides a feasible extension of the classical Caputo and the Riemann-Liouville derivatives within Sobolev spaces of fractional orders including negative ones. Our approach enables a unified treatment for fractional calculus and time-fractional differential equations. We formulate initial value problems for fractional ordinary differential equations and initial boundary value problems for fractional partial differential equations to prove the well-posedness and other properties.